While Illinois' population declines, Naperville continues to draw more residents, according to a study released this week.

Between 2010 and 2014, Naperville added 3,282 residents, a 2.7 percent increase, and Aurora and Elgin both added more than 2,000 residents during that time, according to Northern Illinois University's Center for Governmental Studies census data. Naperville experienced Illinois' second-largest population growth, just behind Chicago.

Most of the new home building is taking place in southwest Naperville near 248th Avenue, where there is still some open land to build subdivisions, Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico said.

Chirico estimates Naperville's population will cap off at 150,000 residents.

"We have to start thinking, because we are reaching our borders," Chirico said. "Soon we won't be a growing community; we will be a maintenance community."

As one of the largest growing cities in Illinois, Naperville is also leading the state in home building and home sales.

"The inventory has been getting absorbed quickly due to the high demands," said Teresa Ryan, owner of Ryan Hill Realty. "Many homes are receiving multiple offers and are going at or above the price being asked for."

In the first quarter of 2015, Naperville home builders started 374 homes, while Rockford started four. Between 2011 and 2015, Naperville started building 1,027 homes, according to data from Metrostudy, a home building research and data consulting company.

In the site's 2015 Best Places to Live rankings, Naperville earned the No. 1 spot and title of "Safest City in America."

"We are extremely proud to have been named the...

It's safe to say Naperville is a great place to live and work, according to a recent ranking released by a web site, Niche.com.

In the site's 2015 Best Places to Live rankings, Naperville earned the No. 1 spot and title of "Safest City in America."

"We are extremely proud to have been named the...

(Jane Donahue)

"As the markets turned for everyone, we've definitely seen a big increase of buyers," said Dan Kittilsen, President of DJK Custom Homes.

Along with Naperville, Kittilsen said he has been building many homes in Plainfield as well.

"From the growth in Naperville and Plainfield, we're slammed," Kittilsen said. "The biggest difference in Naperville and Plainfield is that a lot of buyers are looking for homes in a specific price range, and sometimes Naperville out-prices them. That's where Plainfield becomes a fantastic choice for people."

Illinois, as a whole, lost almost 10,000 residents between 2013 and 2014. This was the first statewide population decline since the 1980s.

Rockford experienced the biggest loss. Its population declined by 2.5 percent, or 3,840 residents.

"People aren't going to live in Rockford to commute to Chicago because it's too far," said Sherrie Taylor, a Center for Governmental Studies researcher. "So Rockford is competing with Chicago for jobs."

Joliet has a population in between that of Rockford and Naperville and has remained fairly stagnant over the past four years. Because of population loss in Rockford, Joliet and Naperville could pass up the population size of Rockford soon, Taylor said.

According to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Estimate Program, Aurora's population exceeded 200,000 in July of last year, at 200,456 – a gain of 2,295 people, or 1.16 percent, since the decennial census of 2010.

It is in second place above Rockford, which fell slightly below the 150,000 mark.

Naperville, at 146,128 people, is closing in on Rockford.

All these figures were collated and released this week by Northern Illinois University's Center for Governmental Studies. Along with the figures, the Center for Governmental Studies noted what the population gains or losses mean to cities, and what the trends look like for the future.

"Growth is usually viewed as a positive," said Eric Zeemering, a professor of public administration at NIU. "It says that residents are attracted to that place. Many cities take population increase as an indicator of overall health."

There is a practical side to the population increase — more money. Many forms of state and federal aid are based on population, so with more people, a municipality receives more money.